MEDFORD-COLBYGYMNASTICS - Gymnasts smash school, personal records

MEDFORD-COLBY GYMNASTICS

The Medford-Colby gymnastics team didn’t just make a small jump Saturday. It vaulted into uncharted territory during a record-setting day at Antigo’s 10team Julie Langseth Invitational.

The Raiders went from a previous high score of 130.8 this season to a 136.375, pushing them into second place behind West Bend West (137.2) and into the top spot in program history. Medford-Colby topped a school record of 135.625 that lasted almost a year, having been set last Feb. 11 at Ashland, and they beat Marshfield for the first time in four meetings this season as the Tigers took third with 134.675 points.

Senior Kyla Krause broke her own school record with an all-around score of 36.2 and was the meet’s top overall gymnast, 1.1 points ahead of West Bend West’s Mel Princl. She won the vault and floor exercise. There were several more personal-record performances on a day where eight gymnasts competed in at least one varsity event and contributed to the team’s success.

“It was awesome to beat the team school record,” said Medford head coach Andrée Brushaber. The Raiders’ accomplishment came at the high school Brushaber graduated from and in a meet that is named after her high school gymnastics coach. “We only have nine girls total and only eight could compete as one was battling fatigue. It was a special day for me since we beat our team record in my old hometown. But we were focused on just doing our best. When we learned how we had improved our beam team score, we knew it would be a decent overall team score.”

The Raiders set season-high team scores on the floor (34.425), the balance beam (34.45) and the uneven bars (32.7) and missed by one-tenth of a point on vault.

The Raiders, though, ruled the vault with a meet-best team score of 34.8 and had the top two finishers in Krause and freshman Raylin Rothmeier. Krause’s 9.2 was 0.2 shy of her school record and just 0.2 points ahead of Rothmeier, who got her first 9.0. She tied Princl for second. Junior Shayla Radlinger tied for 11th with a personal-best 8.4, senior Kaileigh Mientke posted a season-best 8.2 that tied for 19th and junior Veronica Mateer tied for 26th with an 8.05.

Medford-Colby improved by 3.5 points on the bars compared to their triangular with Antigo and Mosinee four days earlier. Krause was second in that event with an 8.75, trailing Marshfield’s Solenne Lonsdale by 0.2 points. Radlinger set a personal record with a ninth-place score of 8.15, sophomore Delaina Meyer, who was limited in this meet while nursing an ankle injury, was 10th with a personal-best 8.125 and Mateer was 17th with a personal- best 7.675. Rothmeier was 26th at 7.1.

The team’s balance beam score was 1.35 points higher than the Raiders’ previous high point of the season. Krause’s 9.1 was a personal-best score and put her in second place, just a tenth behind Princl. Rothmeier set her new personal record with a fifth-place score of 8.75 and Radlinger’s 10th-place score of 8.4 is her new record. Sophomore Bridget Cloud had a 15th-place score of 8.2, easily her best varsity mark of the year, and senior Ellison Carbaugh earned a 6.5.

“I think we were just peaking for beam right now,” Brushaber said. “We changed practice plans to get everyone secluded time on beam for focus and repetition. I also think the order helped but I may be biased. Some girls are full attack and some keep their cool regardless of what happens prior to them competing. It is important to really know the personalities of your athletes. The girls made some smart decisions for themselves in regards to bar routines and, because they were team focused, it also helped them individually with their scores. It is a renewed vision for the team. The girls are just being very strategic and smart with their choices.

“I am so proud of how much each of our athletes want to do well,” she added. “I saw some real fight on the beam.”

On floor, Krause’s score of 9.15 wasn’t a personal best, but it was her best score in three attempts this season. She was twotenths ahead of Abby Pietsch of Marshfield and Princl, who tied for second. Radlinger was ninth with a season-best 8.5, Mateer was 11th at 8.4 and Rothmeier was 12th at 8.375.

Radlinger and Rothmeier had the best all-around days as Raiders. Radlinger placed seventh with 33.45 total points and Rothmeier was ninth with 33.225.

“I just think they all had the mindset to do their best at each event and enjoy themselves,” Brushaber said of her all-arounds. “We had a lot of pressure on us in the beginning of the season, but now we are much more confident and finding our flow. I am so excited for those athletes. One of my wishes for the season was to have some of the girls attain a personal best.

“Vault is not Kaileigh’s favorite event but she really fine-tuned her vault and it was so awesome to see her go after it,” Brushaber added. “I was not surprised with Bridget’s performance. She has been patient with her recovery from her injury and now we as a team get to benefit from her hard work.”

The Ashland Co-op was fourth in Saturday’s team standings with 126.8 points. The Oredockers were followed by Escanaba, Mich. (125.6), Valders-Roncalli (125.175), Antigo (121.325), Rhinelander, (106.65), Mosinee (88.25) and Bark River-Harris, Mich. (72.55).

Medford-Colby has an important dual meet tonight, Thursday, at Wisconsin Rapids. Both teams are 1-1 in the Great Northern Conference’s Large Division and the winner will be in second place in the division behind 3-0 Marshfield heading into the Feb. 17 conference meet at Rhinelander.

“I hope our improvements stay with us, but it is hard to determine since gymnastics is a balance between potential and consistency,” Brushaber said. “Gymnastics is that strive for perfection, but the simplest things can throw off a score significantly. For example, if your grips land weird, you may miss a skill or have to adjust them which takes points away. A rolled ankle on floor, a bad landing, shin splints, a tweaked back, and then the mental side of things can really affect performance. I want to believe the momentum is controlled as we navigate this week.

“I have faith in our abilities to focus on our events and provide the best effort we have when the time comes. We will support one another through it regardless of error. I am cautiously optimistic for the remainder of this season. Every competition is a new opportunity for those girls to shine.”